Europe 2017

Right, what's next? Claire checking out the splitter crack of the next route...

Such a beautiful place to be hanging out.

27/09/2017
Climbing day three and we decided to go back to Sargent. Claire led a beautiful but stiff for the grade 6b, Elisir d'Castro, which is the front cover of the guidebook. It was a gorgeous day to be climbing!

We also saw heaps of FAT marmots. They hibernate during the winter, so are all pretty chubby to get through the next few months underground.

Chamois are the figurehead of the Gran Paradiso National Park and it was pretty impressive to see them, and pretty close range too!

We had lunch at the col, in a complete white-out. It got thicker as we sat eating and got pretty cold, so instead of going down to the next lake we decided to turn around and come back. On the way back we saw four Chamois!!!

Further up the valley we saw a herd of Ibex. They have cute little black and white striped faces with tiny horns that distinct curve at the end.

The goats and sheep were being herded. We saw the farmer and his dog (they have an exemption to allow them to be in the National Park) herding them along the valley as it was getting towards the end of the season up there and getting cold.

Claire made a new friend, who tried to eat her shoe!

They were hanging out with some rabbit-sheep. I call them rabbit-like because of their long, floppy ears!

We saw some local goats.

Where we'd come and where we were going too, disappearing off into the cloud...

The walk was very spectacular, despite the low cloud. You can just see another dam (not the one we're staying near) at the bottom of the valley.

The walk was mostly a traverse, which was nice as it wasn't too taxing and we got to take in the views.

The path was the old King's road built by a former Italian King to go hunting. There were a few buildings around, this I think is a mountain hut.

We parked by a little lake and some power lines. I found a frog in the lake! I couldn't believe it! Towards the end of the trip we met Simone (local pizza shop owner and climber and he said there were a lot of frogs in this valley!)

getting toward the top of the road, the clouds were low but dispersed. It was above the tree line and as you can see a little damp and chilly up here.

26/09/2017
We chose to have a rest day as it was predicted to be a little precipitation today. We decided to drive up the valley and try a walk to Col del Terra that had been recommended to us by Josie, our gracious and lovely host at Hotel del Lago. On our way up we got to see a very furry fox! Normally they aren't seen during the day, so we were very lucky!!

Brilliant route of 6 pitches up to 6a was definitely worth celebrating. We chose to have the half-board at our hotel each night, which always consisted of four courses, the fourth of which was desert. Here we had a delicious Italian panacotta.

Nothing like a bit of grass-climbing to really make it a three star route. The very deep chimney we avoided is clearly visible...

It was getting a little chilly though an I don't think we'd quite prepared for the cloud to come over and sap our warm sun!

Looking back at Claire on pitch 3. A gorgeous arching corner that goes at 5a. We avoided the 'unforgettable chimney pitch' that you would have had to do an unprotected slab section to get to, and this pitch was well worth it!

25/09/2017
Day 2 and we decided to do a multi-pitch on the Sargent. Here Claire prepares for the first pitch of Nautilus (6a).

I went for a little walk before dinner to check out the lake. It was clear and a very pretty turquoise. It was pretty chilly though, but did have some fish in it! The nearby sign showed me where the good fishing spots were too!

Gorgeous light as the sun set over the valley.

Heading out for our first day at Dado. A single pitch trad area with some easy cracks, access is through a cow paddock behind some houses. The leaves on the trees are just starting to turn too.

Was a great first day, we did five routes up to 6b, and met fellow Aussie (well... Tasmanian) Gerry Narkowicz at the crag climbing with Chris from the UK. It was a great intro to the area and we walked away thinking this place is OK!

These signs delineate the edge of the national park. According to google, this park (in Italy) and the corresponding national park in France together form the largest protected area in Europe.

Looking around there seems to be a lot of granite and gneiss here. Claire tried to find out how the valley was formed, but didn't have much luck.